leeping host its
mantle of snow."

Napoleon came also upon the field, in the darkness of the night and of
the storm, and placed his army in position for the battle which the
dawn would usher in. Two hundred pieces of artillery were planted to
reply to the Russian batteries. There were eighty thousand Russians on
the ridge, sixty thousand Frenchmen on the plain, and separated by a
distance of less than half a cannon shot. The sentinels of either army
could almost touch each other with their muskets.

The morning had not yet dawned when the cannonade commenced. The earth
shook beneath its roar. A storm of snow at the same time swept over
the plain blinding and smothering assailants and assailed. The smoke
of the battle blended with the storm had spread over the contending
hosts a sulphurous canopy black as midnight. Even the flash of the
guns could hardly be discerned through the gloom. All the day long,
and until ten o'clock at night, the battle raged with undiminished
fury. One half of the Russian army was now destroyed, and the
remainder, unable longer to endure the conflict, sullenly retreated.
Napoleon remained master of the field, which exhibited such a scene of
misery as had never before met even his eye. When congratulated upon
his victory by one of his officers he replied sadly,

"To a father who loses his children, victory has no charms. When the
heart speaks, glory itself is an illusion."

CHAPTER XXX.

REIGN OF ALEXANDER I.

From 1807 to 1825.

The Field of Eylau.--Letter to the King of Prussia.--Renewal of the
War--Discomfiture of the Allies.--Battle of Friedland.--The Raft at
Tilsit.--Intimacy of the Emperors.--Alexander's Designs upon
Turkey.--Alliance between France and Russia.--Object of the
Continental System.--Perplexities of Alexander.--Driven by the Nobles
to War.--Results of the Russian Campaign.--Napoleon Vanquished.--Last
Days of Alexander.--His Sickness and Death.

From the field of Eylau, the Russians and Prussians retreated to the
Niemen. Napoleon remained some days upon the field to nurse the
wounded, and, anxious for peace, wrote to the King of Prussia in the
following terms:

"I desire to put a period to the misfortunes of your family, and to
organize, as speedily as possible, the Prussian monarchy. I desire
peace with Russia, and, provided that the cabinet of St. Petersburg
has no designs upon the Turkish empire, I see no difficulty in
obtaining it. I have no hesitation